Tough trips to England's northern towns often seem to bring the best out of Mourinho's Chelsea sides.

His 2004-05 title-winning team produced one of their gutsiest, most important victories of that campaign at Blackburn Rovers.

And they went on to clinch their first title for half a century at Bolton Wanderers at the end of April.

So last night's visit to a Burnley side managed by the 'Ginger Mourinho', Sean Dyche, held no fears for them.

There will, of course, be far tougher tests to come than last night's victory against a Burnley team that cost a mere £5m to assemble.

Chelsea's starting XI cost more than 40 times that amount but at least they made their quality count.

All the changes Mourinho made worked. Fabregas and Costa both made fine starts. So, too, did Thibaut Courtois.

Mourinho made the ruthless decision to leave out one of his old servants, Petr Cech, to accommodate Courtois after his recall from Atletico Madrid.

And Courtois did not let him down. He commanded his area well and made one stunning save from Burnley goalscorer Scott Arfield early in the second half.

Schurrle he'll stay: The German has been linked with a move away, but was top class for Chelsea against Burnley (Image: Laurence Griffiths)

Every department of the team looked balanced. Fabregas and Matic complemented each other in their roles in front of the back four.

And Schurrle, Oscar and Eden Hazard showed off the full range of their technical gifts further forward.

Hazard was in breathtaking form, dancing and skipping past Burnley challenges at will, playing a crucial part in that bravura second goal.

Burnley did not give up and continued to offer the occasional threat to Chelsea's goal deep into the match.

They can take comfort in the fact that the Premier League is not always as forbidding as this.

For Chelsea, it was pretty much the perfect start at the end of an opening round of fixtures that has done little to diminish expectations that this title will be fought out between Mourinho's side and Manchester City.

Mourinho knows deep down that he has little margin for error this season. If Chelsea do not win the title or the Champions League, the recent history of the club suggests that he will probably be fired.

This display will not have encouraged those cannot bear his narcissism and his jibes.

Chelsea were strong last season. Now, indisputably, they are much, much stronger.